BANG, Any ideas

baddlord77

baddlord77

Member
I have a 120 w/440 watts, 2 uri's 2 real actinics...lights are on a timer running a total of about 10 hours (4 hours which are peaking) I have one yellow tail damsel and two perculas, lots of crabs & snails, a brittle star (green giant) and two cleaner shrimp a dozen mushrooms, polypsand a soft coral. (Everything seems to be thriving big-time.) and a bout 80 lbs of lr and 150 lbs of ls. I am getting alot of brown on my rocks..all over everything...Glass too...The tank has been up for about 3 months...went through this cycle before and it came and went...It's here again:confused: I talk to tizzo on a regular basis, but we're at a loss. PH is: 8.6-8.7, alk is perfect, no ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are perfect also. Calcium is: 480-490..What gives...:confused: 1.024-1.025 also.....using a Maxima ro unit....Tizzo had me test the ro water w/ and w/out cycled salt..it was excellent..PH seems be the only thing amiss...:help: PS i did add live Phytoplankton & Marine plankton 1 drop a week for the last 4 weeks...:nervous:
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Diatoms are going to come & go. Although your tank is cycled it's no where near stable. Diatom munchers will eventually reach equlibrium with the Diatoms. You will almost always have to clear a dusting of Diatoms from the glass a couple three times a week.
Feather duster, copepods, ostracodes, etc. will slowly grow in population. At a certain point they will keep up woth distoms and you won't notice them on the rocks much after that.
Phosphate is also a good element to test for. It will give an indication that you are exporting as much as you're feeding.
 
baddlord77

baddlord77

Member
I appreciate it Bang......does salfert offer a phosphate test kit? I think thats the only kit i dont have besides mag. Is my calcium lookin' good? I do have LOTS of critters, pods etc....they have been holding down the fort pretty well....I'll havta' extend their working hours and give them larger lunch breaks:D I appreciate the feedback Bang...
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Yep. Salifert makes a good PO4 test.
I don't know if your Calcium is looking good because I don't know what an ALK level of "Perfect" is

If your ALK is around 4.5Meq/L then your Ca is fine. If your ALK is lower then I'd suggest letting your CA level drop until it's balanced with the ALK. If your ALK is higher then 4.5Meq/L then I'd let the ALK drop (and you're on the verge of a precipitation event).
Bang
 
baddlord77

baddlord77

Member
Presipitation event ? hmmm:thinking: Can u elaborate...Well. i guess i need to p/up a alk tester other than red-sea..Calcium was checked w/ salfert, but not alk...Not perfect by all means..Just meant that by most everyone...calcium seems to be at the optimum...One more question..if i can..(not be personal w/just u, but you're the big-wig (the-man
) but what would be the best solution to rid those damn anemones...I seem to have alot of stuff on the rocks so i dont want to kill anything nearby....i have removed a couple of rocks into a clean tubberware where i broke out the scalpels and dug the anemones out of their holes completely..throughly rinsed them and dropped them back in the tank...but i have several large rocks w/shi_-loads of them. I was gonna' nuke them w/ calcium and water or salt in a syringe directed right on them but dont want to spoil or kill their neighbors....:notsure:
 
baddlord77

baddlord77

Member
Hey Kip, thank you...i take it you're probably from Charlotte ?
Do u know 'Tizzo' ? She's from Charlotte also..i hooked up w/her and her family about a month ago.....Very good peeps...I checked her stuff out...and she checked out mine...ooopssss:)D Aquarium's that is):eek: She has a very sweet aquarium........It's awesome to see other aquariums in the area w/out leavin' for a longgg ride......Is there a saltwater place in Kannapolis ? I know there is one on goldfish road....But they care less about their critters and very little about customers....saw first hand and experienced myself first hand......I refuse to go there
Fintastic isn't much better....but i do like some of the guys that work there...."tizzo" took me to a store a couple of weeks back that was on south blvd....pretty nice store....small.....but they seem to be more personal. But man do they man-handle their stuff....
I was llokin for a watchman and the guy was tossin and turnin over rocks like crazy trying to find one in several tanks...and mind you...there were other fish in there to dodging 1lb rocks flting everywhere..pour guys...I was waiting for someone to get smooshed any second.........or for a few to die of a heart-attack any second...don't know...i guess the find what they want quick....:rolleyes: But i was enjoying myself for a good hour and a half...
 
T

tizzo

Guest

Originally posted by baddlord77
..."tizzo" took me to a store a couple of weeks back that was on south blvd....pretty nice store....small.....but they seem to be more personal.

We went to Hi-Tide...
 
baddlord77

baddlord77

Member
Hey 'kip' where is this convention in raleigh..? whats the center called they're throwing it at ? was gonna look it up on the web & mapquest.......Thanks....:jumping:
 
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